Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 33, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 2018-2019 be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to my right, I have Dr. Joe Dragon, who is the Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources; to my left, I have Lisa Dyer, who is the director of Environment, Environment and Natural Resources; and to my far right, I have Mr. Thomas Druyan, legislative counsel, Department of Justice. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am here to introduce Bill 27, An Act to Amend the Environmental Protection Act.

This bill makes several amendments to the act. It will:

remove the nonapplication provision;

authorize the Minister to determine that discharges are nuisances;

authorize the Minister to establish and make publicly available a register regarding environmental contaminants;

authorize the Minister to exempt persons from complying with the act or regulations in accordance with the regulations in place;

create a new exception to the prohibition against releasing contaminants for discharges...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 33, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 2018-2019 be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have had an opportunity to meet with one of the manufacturers here in the capital along with a Member from Yellowknife North, and a very productive meeting. They made a lot of their concerns known, and I think we took that away and we realized that they had a very valid point, so I think we were trying to take steps to address that. There will be an opportunity for the businesses to have input, and if they require a meeting of myself, then, I am sure I can make arrangements to have a sit down with them as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we were going to look at the liquor licensing across the Northwest Territories, and when the Member stands up to ask his second question, if he would take a little bit of time so that I could pull it up in a briefing note, I would be happy to respond.

Again, to the Member's first point about the use of personal cabins, a lot of it is common sense. Some people will leave their cabins open, allowing other people to use them in case of emergency, and they have to respect that person's cabin. It is a practice that has been going on for a long time, but again, it is common sense that people need to respect the personal property of others.

To the Member's second point, the renewable resource officers have no authority to enforce alcoholrelated infractions, but because they are peace officers, they can report the infraction to the RCMP. However...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Wildlife officers are on regular duty from Monday to Friday 8:30 to 5 o’clock. During busy hunting season, schedule can be adjusted to provide additional coverage when and where needed. Also, we can bring in additional resource officers from other communities or regions if there is a need in a particular area. There are renewable resource officers on call 24 hours a day in each region, with the contact information posted on the GNWT website hunting guide. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, since 2013, September 30th has been marked as Orange Shirt Day, a day for all Canadians to remember the survivors of the residential school system. Organizers chose an orange shirt as the symbol for that day based on a story told by Phyllis Jack Webstad, a survivor of the St. Joseph Mission Residential School in Williams Lake, B.C. In her story, Ms. Webstad tells of having a shiny, new orange shirt her grandmother had given to her being taken away on her first day at residential school.

We remember residential school survivors and their families on all days...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, one of the reasons we wanted this motion or the Minister to have the authority to grant the exemptions is in emergency situations, there may be exemptions that may need to be granted. I can assure Members that and it is tied to regulations. Bill 27 received assent. I can’t go out tomorrow and start granting exemptions. We have exemptions. I think we had a discussion when we brought this before committee. We have talked about making it a public process and we did manage to get that amendment into the bill where we go through a public process if time permits, but...